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Red Bull Ring 2013
The served as the third round of the 2013 DTM Championship, and the second non-German race of the season.'2013 DTM calendar', gpupdate.net, (JHED Media B.V., 2013), http://www.gpupdate.net/en/calendar/189/2013-dtm-calendar/, (Accessed 26/10/2015) Held at the Red Bull Ring near the city of Spielberg, the meeting served as the series' annual visit to Austria, but was not a home race for team, driver nor manufacturer. The weekend was dominated by Bruno Spengler, who claimed both pole position and victory on his way to the lead of the Championship.'BMW SCORES A 1-2-3 AT SPIELBERG', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 02/06/2013), http://www.dtm.com/en/news/bmw-scores-1-2-3-spielberg-2013-06-02.html, (Accessed 15/12/2015) Marco Wittmann recorded fastest lap on his way to his first podium by finishing second, with Timo Glock (also securing his first podium finish) completing a BMW 1-2-3. Mike Rockenfeller finished fourth as the best of the Audis, while Christian Vietoris led the Mercedes challenge in seventh. Background No major news stories affected the grid in the aftermath of the battle at Brands Hatch, meaning attention could focus on the emerging title battle. Victory in the UK had given Mike Rockenfeller the lead of the Championship ahead Bruno Spengler, the man attempting to defend his crown. Farfus' retirement meant he sat in third having looked set to finish as high as second and build a fair sized gap after just two races at Brands before the fateful gearbox failure. Gary Paffett, meanwhile, was leading the Mercedes contenders in fourth, after his post-race demotion at his home race cost him seven points. The Teams' Championship was beginning to spread out even at this early stage of the season, with BMW Team Schnitzer five ahead of BMW Team RBM, despite having not won a race. HWA Team I, meanwhile, were slipping behind in third, under pressure from Phoenix Racing in fourth. were the latest team to join the points scorers, after Pascal Wehrlein secured their (and his) first points of the season. Entries Below is the entry list for the : Qualifying A dry but overcast Saturday afternoon saw the track temparature just peak above 20 before the start of qualifying, after practice had been dominated by BMW.'BMW CLAIMS FRONT ROW OF THE GRID AT RED BULL RING', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 01/06/2013), http://www.dtm.com/en/news/bmw-claims-front-row-grid-red-bull-ring-2013-06-01.html, (Accessed 15/12/2015) No adjustments were made to the format after Brands Hatch, so the fifteen minute Q1 session would see six drivers eliminated, before a further six would drop out in Q2. Q3 would see six more drivers eliminated from qualifying, before the final four hit the circuit one at a time to try to set pole position. Q1 Mike Rockenfeller lit up his Audi RS5 DTM as he got onto the track first to signal the start of qualifying, setting fastest lap before being toppled by Augusto Farfus. Martin Tomczyk was the next man to top the times before Farfus responded a few moments later, before both were beaten after a stunning lap by Filipe Albuquerque. By the halfway mark, Gary Paffett had seemingly joined the pole fight by going second, with times beginning to come down across the field. Marco Wittmann went under the 1:25.000 barrier for the first time in qualifying, before Bruno Spengler joined him a few moments later, the Canadian having completed his first lap. The familiar final shuffle saw all six Mercedes cars move themselves up into the safety zone, before the rest of the field completed their times. Amazingly, all bar Roberto Merhi survived for the three pointed star despite their struggles earlier in the weekend. Audi, on the otherhand, lost Jamie Green, Adrien Tambay and Miguel Molina, while BMW saw Andy Priaulx and Joey Hand fall. Q2 Canadian Robert Wickens hit the circuit first at the start of Q2, although his time was immediately beaten by Albuquerque. Edoardo Mortara then went fastest, before his time was blown apart by Spengler, who went three tenths faster than he had earlier to top the session. At the end of the session, Dirk Werner and Timo Glock were relegated for BMW, while fell for Audi. Pascal Wehrlein, Daniel Juncadella and Christian Vietoris, meanwhile, were all removed for Mercedes, leaving them with two drivers in the top ten. Q3 Rockenfeller again signalled the start of a quali session by launching out of the pitlane first, before his time was beaten by Wittmann. Spengler, meanwhile, was on a role and went even faster than he had before, setting the fastest time of the weekend, meaning he was almost guarenteed to go through. By the end of the session, Spengler had indeed survived as fastest, with Wittmann, Mortara and Farfus also going through. Further down the top ten, Wickens qualified as the fastest Merc driver, after Paffett had failed to set a time after an engine failure. Rockenfeller, meanwhile, ended Q3 in eighth, but would be relegated to thirteenth after a penalty awarded earlier in the weekend. Pole Shootout Farfus was first out in the Shootout, but was unable to set a time as quick as his Q3 time. That began a trend in the Shootout, but Mortara still managed to beat him, before the Italian himself was beaten by Wittmann, who again broke the 1:25.000 barrier. Spengler then showed his class, the Canadian topping the times by over a tenth to take his first pole of the season. Post-Qualifying ** Rockenfeller handed a five place grid penalty. Race Another overcast day over the Red Bull Ring would play host to the DTM on Sunday, although temperatures were higher than they had been during qualifying. Low cloud also meant there was a dampness in the air, but not enough to concern the drivers as the cars pulled away to begin the formation lap. Report Bruno Spengler sprinted clear off the line as Marco Wittmann tried to keep Edoardo Mortara from taking second, but to no avail. Further down there was a good start for Martin Tomczyk, who leapt up four places before the first corner, as Wittmann tried to retake second from Mortara into turn two. All 22 cars incredibly survived the first lap with no damage despite the three hairpins that made up the first three turns of the Red Bull Ring restricting the amount of space available. Spengler was already beginning to stretch his legs at the head of the field as lap two started, while Tomczyk completed a move on Timo Scheider for fifth. That left Mortara as the lone Audi in a top five otherwise full of BMWs, remaining under pressure from Wittmann throughout the early stages. Robert Wickens held onto seventh for Mercedes, taking Filipe Albuquerque after Tomczyk blasted by at the start, while Gary Paffett remained in ninth with his new engine. Revenge was served by Wittmann on lap three, as he managed to sweep past Mortara to retake second on lap three, before several drivers opted to make their first mandatory stops a lap later. Dirk Werner led in a group of six cars to swap tyres, among them Mike Rockenfeller whom had gone backwards in the early stages, running down in fourteenth. Scheider, meanwhile, was putting pressure back onto Tomczyk in his pursuit of fifth, the German beginning to slip away from the back of Farfus as the top four pulled a small gap. Scheider made his move for fifth on lap seven, getting past his compatriot at Remus, also opening the door, partially, for Wickens. The Canadian darted on the brakes a fraction too late, however, and slid along the outside of Tomczyk before running wide on the exit of turn two, allowing Tomczyk back past. Albuquerque slip past Wickens as well, completing the move into turn three with Paffett also looming in the wake of the Canadian. At the front of the field, meanwhile, Wittmann was drawing in Spengler, with Mortara and Farfus also starting to close. Off camera, Wickens took both Albuquerque and Tomczyk in short order a couple of laps later, before Paffett and Pascal Wehrlein began to close. Albuquerque also slipped past before Paffett slung his car down the inside of Tomczyk into turn three on lap ten, before running the German wide and onto the grass. As Tomczyk struggled for traction Paffett blasted away without making contact, while Wehrlein also snuck past with little issue. Paffett was left in seventh, but was handed a two second penalty a few laps later for deliberately running Tomczyk off the track. Joey Hand stopped at the back of the field amid the scrapping in the mid-pack, rejoining near the back of the field. Unfortunately for the American racer, the pitcrew had failed to secure his front left wheel, meaning it came off of the car as he approached Remus, forcing him out of the race. The next few laps saw the leading cars begin to head into the pitlane for tyres, the now struggling Tomczyk heading in as Hand fell out. It was not long before the cameras were back on Tomczyk, however, as he emerged in a scrap with Roberto Merhi for seventeenth. The German was defending from the Spaniard into Remus, managing to grab the inside of the corner, before drifting across the front of the Mercedes on the exit. Merhi kept his foot on the throttle, forcing Tomczyk into a spin with Merhi losing out to Daniel Juncadella, before the DMSB awarded Merhi a ten second penalty for causing a collision. Wittmann and Mortara were exchanging blows down the back straight into Remus in their battle for second, both moving across the track and into the side of each other. Mortara bailed later that lap to complete his second stop, with Wittmann continuing on for several laps more. Timo Glock, meanwhile, had been quietly going about his business from the middle of the pack, and by the halfway stage was the first of those to have made one stop, as Spengler continued to pound round the circuit. Wickens became the latest man to stop from the leaders as pulled in to complete his second stop, becoming the first man to complete both stops. The following laps saw more action in the pitlane than on track, with dramas for Scheider costing him valuable time after a stuck rear wheel. Tomczyk also limped into the pits to retire as Scheider was sent on his way, while Werner and Farfus battled for eighth, amid a constant flow of cars now completing their second stops. Spengler stopped without losing the lead, leaving Miguel Molina as the only man yet to stop with fifteen laps to go. Glock ran in third ahead of Wittmann, with Rockenfeller in fifth and Wehrlein the best Mercedes in seventh. Glock then pitted for his second and final stop on lap 33, but lost time after a problem, meaning he slipped behind team mate Wittmann once the German made his stop. Molina made his first stop a lap later, dropping him well down the field, as problems for Jamie Green delayed the Brit and dropped him out of point scoring contention. The final laps saw little movement in the order as drivers trickled in to complete their second stops, the last major battle seeing Ekstrom force his way past Farfus for fifth on the penultimate lap. That left Spengler to take a calm victory at the front of the field, Wittmann closing but unable to catch him in the remaining time. That said, it remained a terrific result for the rookie as second place meant he would stand on the podium for the first time, a feat equalled by team mate Glock who held on to third. Results The final race result for the is displayed below: * Indicates a driver who started on soft or "option" tyres. Indicates a driver who started on hard or "prime" tyres. Category:Red Bull Ring Category:Races Category:2013 Races Milestones *First podium for Marco Wittmann and Timo Glock. Standings Victory gave defending Champion Bruno Spengler the lead in the DTM Championship, and a twelve point advantage over Mike Rockenfeller. Augusto Farfus remained in third, continuing to lose ground to the leaders despite winning the opening race, while Marco Wittmann climbed to fourth after his first podium. Christian Vietoris stayed in fifth and took over the Mercedes challenge, but with less than half the total points of Spengler out front. BMW Team Schnitzer established a strong lead in the Teams' Championship, now holding a 26 point lead over BMW Team RBM. The podium for Wittmann and Timo Glock meant BMW Team MTEK leapt into third, with Phoenix Racing holding on to fourth. The second HWA Team led the Mercedes challenge, as the marque left Austria at the back of the Brands' Chapionship. Audi overtook them, leaping two points ahead, as BMW built an early lead, over 120 points to the good. Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown. References Videos and Images: * References: Category:Red Bull Ring Category:Races Category:2013 Races